DIET & NUTRITION

Training and competition place a lot of demands on your body. The right diet can improve your performance and help you recover quickly for the next workout. That’s especially important for me because I have a busy schedule and train all year round. I make sure I get enough calories and consume the right kind to fuel my workouts, which can last for hours. This is my first year working with a Nutritionist and things are going great! Here I am mentioning some of the things we are been working through the year.

When it comes to eating right, I’m pretty easy to please. I stick to lean meats and seafood, lots of fruits and vegetables and no junk food. My typical breakfast is an egg-white omelet with vegetables, or oatmeal. Lunch and dinner is usually grilled chicken, tuna, or fish with a salad, some rice and vegetables. I try to avoid canned fruit and vegetables instead I make sure to buy them fresh or frozen. Protein ranks high in my diet because it helps build muscle tissue. Also I limit my consumption of sugar to 40 grams per day.

Every athlete needs some form of complex carbs because they give you a boost for intense training and help fuel your performance for long periods of time. I like to drink a lot of water when practicing, competing and long workouts, also for every hour of work I have a capsule of electrolytes to keep me going.

Playing tournament on the road is the hardest for my diet because I have to eat a lot at restaurants. The secret to eating out is to plan ahead, and be assertive. The plan must start with choosing a place that offers healthy culinary choices. Let’s face it, low fat choices will be easier to find at Seafood or Asian restaurants. Here are some tips that been working for me: Give your friends two or three restaurants that you know what will satisfy your needs, look for meals that contain a small amount of fat, select baked, broiled, or grill entrees of fish or chicken, make sure to request no butter, ask your dressing and sauces to be on the side, request lemon or plain vinegar for your salad, skip the basket of chips and crackers and eat your bread without butter. For dessert, the perfect way to end is to choose some fresh fruit.

The most rewarding occurs after you take your time to select the healthiest meal everyone else says “I’ll have the same”. Also remember the most important element to an enjoyable evening of dining out is good company and relax about tomorrows round!